Non-kinking and non-tangling suture package
AssigneeIDX Medical, Ltd.
InventorsWarren P. Williamson, IV, Craig B. Berky, Paul A. Spence, Mark Ortiz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A suture package (30) including a panel having a series of superimposed subpanels (32a). A suture (20) loops back and forth on the subpanels (32a) such that adjacent loops are retained on adjacent subpanels (32a) and the adjacent subpanels separate the adjacent loops from one another. In the preferred embodiment, an accordion style panel (32) is utilized and the series of subpanels (32a) are folded into a superimposed relationship. Various features are incorporated to reduce the instances or likelihood of kinking and tangling of the suture (20) when pulled from the package (30) by a user.
Claims37
A suture package comprising:
- an accordion style panel having at least three subpanels with adjacent subpanels folded in opposite directions;
- and
- a suture looping back and forth on one side of the accordion style panel to form a plurality of loops on the one side of the panel, each of the plurality of loops being placed upon a different one of the subpanels when the accordion style panel is in an unfolded condition.
A suture package comprising:
- at least three subpanels;
- a suture looping back and forth on respective faces of the subpanels to form a plurality of loops on the respective faces of the subpanels, each of the plurality of loops being placed upon a different one of the subpanels;
- and
- an outer package portion securing the at least three of subpanels together in facing relation.
A method of packaging a suture, the method comprising:
- temporarily retaining an accordion-style panel on a plurality of retractable pins by extending said pins through holes in alternating subpanels of the accordion-style panel;
- looping a suture along the subpanels and around each set of pins on the alternating subpanels;
- looping the suture further around a suture retainer disposed on each subpanel between the alternating panels;
- folding respective flaps downwardly over the pins and the loops of suture material on the alternating subpanels;
- retracting the pins;
- and
- folding the accordion-style panel into a fully folded condition with adjacent suture loops being separated by adjacent subpanels.
A method of packaging a suture, the method comprising:
- looping a suture back and forth on respective faces of at least three subpanels to form a plurality of loops on the respective faces of the subpanels, each of the plurality of loops being placed upon a different one of the subpanels;
- superimposing the subpanels on each other
- positioning respective ends of the suture in en accessible location for grasping;
- and
- securing the superimposed subpanels together in the form of a package.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.